Despite U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions promising a crackdown on cannabis in states where the drug is now legal, the owner of Osgood Landing says the plan to bring a massive state-of-the-art cannabis grow and research complex to that building is still going forward.

"U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recent decision to rescind the 2013 ‘Cole Memo’ in no way impacts development plans for the Massachusetts Innovation Works project at 1600 Osgood Street," Ozzy Properties owner Jeff Goldstein said over the weekend.

In 2013, as more and more states were decriminalizing, and even legalizing, marijuana, the Obama administration began a policy of non-intervention outlined in a memo drafted by U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole, calling for federal prosecutors to shift focus away from cannabis in states where it was legal. This allowed medical cannabis – now legal in about 30 states, as well as recreational cannabis in states including Alaska, Colorado, Washington, Massachusetts and Maine, to flourish. And California legalized recreational cannabis recently, a policy that went into effect this month.

But on Thursday, Jan. 4, Sessions announced he was scrapping the Cole Memo and would direct federal prosecutors to use their discretion regarding marijuana in those states that had legalized it. Reaction since has been swift, with governors and representatives in several of those states speaking out in defiance of Sessions’ move.

"In wake of the announcement, both Gov. [Charlie] Baker and the state Cannabis Control Commission have made it clear that they fully support the will of Commonwealth voters and that the state will continue to move forward in establishing and implementing comprehensive marijuana regulations," Goldstein said. "We are confident in the Commonwealth’s resolve to protect our state’s rights and the will of its voters.

Indeed, Baker (who opposed recreational marijuana legalization when it was on the ballot in 2016) and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, have since spoken out against Sessions’ announcement. The Baker administration called the move a "wrong decision" that would confuse the ongoing process of the state’s new Cannabis Control Commission, and Healey accused Sessions of undermining the fight against opioid addiction.

"Jeff Sessions is inexplicably directing federal law enforcement resources away from combating the opioid epidemic to marijuana legalized by the people of Massachusetts. We are committed to helping our state and local partners implement the will of the voters," Healey posted on Twitter right after Sessions made his announcement.

On Jan. 30, North Andover will hold a Special Town Meeting to vote on zoning bylaws proposed by Massachusetts Innovation Works to clear the way for a million-square-feet cannabis grow and research complex at Osgood Landing, former home of Lucent Technologies.